Boban Marjanovic: Fantasy Superstar?

Our Fantasy Points Per 36 Minutes Tool is mostly a list of fantasy superstars. Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, and Demarcus Cousins are at the top of the list and are three of the best players in the NBA. But in the mix of these fantasy monsters is a player you possibly have never heard of: Boban Marjanovic. He’s 2nd in fantasy points per 36 minutes on FanDuel and 3rd on DraftKings. Is this a mistake? Some sort of typo?

Boban Marjanovic is a 7’3″ Serbian rookie on the San Antonio Spurs. He doesn’t play much behind two great starting big men, Lamarcus Aldridge and Tim Duncan. In fact, he only averages about 7 minutes a game. But his fantasy efficiency is through the roof. Per 36 minutes, Boban averages 24 points and 15 rebounds, along with 1.3 steals and 2.7 blocks. He’s done this in 171 minutes this season, which is similar to a 5 game span for a starter. It’s not a big sample, but it’s not a small one either. He’s likely to regress to the mean a bit, but I’d be shocked if he ends the season with less than 45 fantasy points per 36 minutes on the season.

It’s not clear how Boban is this good. He was undrafted in 2010 and ended up playing in the Euroleague for the past several seasons. But being 7’3″ and nearly 300 pounds makes a players potential enormous, and it looks like Marjanovic may be fulfilling that potential. There are also a surprising amount of Centers who ride the bench who have massive FP per 36 minutes. Jusuf Nurkic and Cole Aldrich are two examples, both are at 40+ FP per 36 on DraftKings.

Marjanovic is currently close to min salary on both FanDuel and DraftKings. That won’t continue this season. The Spurs rest players often, and along with an injury or two to a big man on the bench, Marjanovic could be in line to see 20-30 minutes sometime this season. When that time comes, he is going to have some huge games and be the hottest player in daily fantasy, I almost guarantee it.

There can be an argument for Marjanovic being worth a play even now, at least in high blowout potential situations. Marjanovic has been playing more minutes recently, and in a blowout against Utah he received a career high 19 minutes, where he recorded 13 points, 7 rebounds, and a block for 23.4 FP on FanDuel. Not bad for minimum salary. But this wasn’t even a good game for Boban on per minute basis. Given his season numbers, we would expect him to average about 26 FP in 19 minutes, and in a good game we would expect 30+. In games where the Spurs are gigantic favorites, Boban is certainly worth a play from blowout minute potential. Look for spreads of 15 points or more in the Spurs favor.

Boban isn’t the only player riding the bench that has daily fantasy superstar potential. Below is a list of other players who have not played much this season but have great FPP36 for their respective positions.

PG: Cameron Payne, 9.2 MPG, 35.96 FDFPP36

SG: Marcus Thornton, 19.9 MPG, 30.35 FDFPP36

SF: Jeremy Lamb, 22.3 MPG, 32.93 FDFPP36

PF: Kyle O’Quinn, 12 MPG, 36.99 FDFPP36

C: Jusuf Nurkic, 14.8 MPG, 44.5 FDFPP36

Look to play these players when they draw a start or are expected to get a lot more minutes. The Fantasy Points Per 36 Minutes Tool is a tremendous help when estimating how well a player will do with increased minutes.

About the Author

Daniel Steinberg Daniel Steinberg is a former bond trader at a multi-billion dollar proprietary trading firm in Chicago. He uses his knowledge of statistics and his creativity from his career as a poker professional to create the most advanced Daily Fantasy statistical analysis that you will find anywhere. Follow him on twitter @DanielSingerS